dbcve.org
ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2011-0101

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-04-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted RealTimeData record, related to a stTopic field, double-byte characters, and an incorrect pointer calculation, aka "Excel Record Parsing WriteAV Vulnerability."

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 contains a memory corruption vulnerability in its record parsing logic. When processing a crafted RealTimeData (RTD) record, the application performs an incorrect pointer calculation when handling double-byte characters in the stTopic field. This causes a WriteAV (write access violation) that can be leveraged for remote code execution.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS11-021 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Excel 2002 SP3 installations. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening Excel files from untrusted sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2002

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Excel 2002 installation
    Open Excel, click Help, then About Microsoft Excel. Alternatively, right-click the excel.exe file in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10 (or Office) and select Properties to view the version.
    Affected if Excel 2002 is installed and the version begins with 10.0
  2. Check Service Pack level
    In Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel and look for the SP3 notation in the version string, or check the installed updates via Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs for 'Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Office 2002'.
    Affected if The installation is Excel 2002 SP3 (version 10.0.6866.x or similar, without subsequent security patches)
  3. Verify RTD record parsing behavior
    Since this vulnerability triggers when opening a crafted Excel file containing a malicious RealTimeData (RTD) record, the vulnerability exists in the parsing code itself for affected versions - no configuration toggle controls this.
    Affected if Excel 2002 SP3 is installed without the MS11-021 security update applied

You are affected if Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 is installed and MS11-021 (or subsequent cumulative updates) has not been applied - the vulnerable RTD record parsing code is present in this version.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security update MS11-021 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Excel 2002 SP3 installations. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening Excel files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to a supported Microsoft Office version (such as Office 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016) which receives regular security updates

  1. Locate and apply the official Microsoft security update for this vulnerability. For CVE-2011-0101, this was addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-021, which included update KB2502786 for Excel 2002.
  2. Verify the current patch level by opening Excel 2002, clicking 'Help' > 'About Microsoft Office Excel' to confirm the version and installed updates.
  3. If the system cannot be patched, restrict Excel file handling by configuring Microsoft Office to open files from untrusted sources in Protected View: Go to Excel Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View and enable all protected view options.
  4. Implement additional network-level controls to block Excel attachments from untrusted sources at the email gateway or proxy level.
  5. Consider upgrading to a supported Microsoft Office version as Excel 2002 reached end of support many years ago, as unsupported software cannot receive security updates.
Caveat Excel 2002 is very old (released 2001) and long past support; upgrading to modern Office may require license purchase, and some legacy features or file formats may behave differently

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-0101 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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